Energy usage has increased since net metering installed

dawnedellJanuary 16, 2014

My electricity energy usage had never exceeded 700kw (22.86kw/day) going back at least through 2009. I had a net meter installed in May 2012, in preparation for a solar panel installation.
My usage quickly rose up to about 750kw until the panels were installed 9/12/12. Then the combined usage really took off. It reached a peak of 950kw (32.6kw/day) in July 2013. I asked for, and received a new net meter on 7/31/13.

The total usage dropped dramatically so that through 01/2014 the daily usage peaked at 25.7kw/day.
But this is still too high, by maybe 5kw/day.

Sunrun, our solar company, says the system itself will use at most 5-10 kw/month.

The Massachusetts Dept of Public Utilities tested my first net meter and found no problems. I wonder exactly how they test it.
I am convinced it was faulty.

But, going forward, the question is why the second net meter is also registering too high. I appreciate any insights to the things that could possibly cause this. I did hear an anecdotal story that after people have panels installed, they start using more electricity because they feel guilt free. We did not change any of our habits. We don't even have air conditioning. Maybe this story is actually the result of meters that don't work as you might expect, or some solar electricity "disappears" before it can go back into the utility's meter.